British Classic Barn Finds Head To Auction

Rare classic barn finds, including Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and Jaguar E-Type, to be sold alongside many other classic and retro cars

Hampson Auctions has amassed an impressive and diverse selection of cars for its flagship Oulton Park Gold Cup sale, at Oulton Park circuit on 28 July. These include two literal barn finds – a 1970 Jaguar E-type 4.2-litre 2+2 and its ‘stablemate’, a 1975 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow – plus an impeccably restored 1956 Bristol Drophead Coupe, a rare right-hand-drive Ferrari 308 GTB ‘Vetroresina’ and a beautiful 1978 Maserati Merak SS.

Managing Director Zach Hamilton had great fun shooing away the chickens to unearth the two barn finds. The E-type Series 2 had been parked in the barn since 1986. The vendor’s late husband bought it as a 21st birthday to himself in the mid 1970s and it was used by the family until an attempt was made to steal it while it was parked outside of Woolworths, so it was tucked away in the barn. It has remained there, untouched, for nearly 40 years. A few years later it was joined by another of the vendor’s husband’s cars, the 1975 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Both of these cars require complete, ground-up restorations, and are offered at No Reserve, making each of them a tremendous opportunity to acquire an engrossing and rewarding project.

In complete contrast condition-wise to the barn find duo, the 1956 Bristol 405 Drophead Coupe, with coachwork by Abbotts of Farnham, is fresh from a first-class, bare-metal restoration, with the vendor describing it as now ‘arguably a show-winner’. Offered complete with the full, original toolkit, it carries an estimate of £160,000-£180,000.

The fabulous 1978 Maserati Merak SS is a real jewel. Originally supplied new to an American buyer, it was used in New York for many years, before being displayed in a museum between 2001 to 2017. This explains the enviably low but credible mileage of just 29,000 – though this is not warranted. This LHD machine arrived in the UK in 2020vand the interior is perfectly period, even down to an original 1970s’ Blaupunkt cassette player. The car even benefits from a recent set of new black wool carpets, which took a whole day to fit and cost a four-figure sum. Estimate: £55,000 – £65,000.

The 1976 Ferrari 308 GTB ‘Vetroresina’ in the sale is one of 154 right-hand-drive examples and carries an estimate of £90,000 – £110,000. The sale also includes a very fine 1991 Ferrari Testarossa (£80,000-£100,000) and a beautiful 1975 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4. This latter has remained in the same ownership for the last two decades, where its present owner, an engineer who specialists in classic and rally cars, has lavished care and attention on it. It is being offered at No Reserve.

Other lots offered at No Reserve include a very well presented 1973 BMW 2002 Tii in Seventies-style BMW Motorsport colours over white, a charming 1933 Austin 10/4 Saloon, a charismatic 1991 Nissan Figaro and a 1954 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn, which comes complete with cherishes ‘PGH 2’ registration number.

For further information and to consign a vehicle to the sale, please visit https://hampsonauctions.com.

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